By Stefan Coerts

The 44-year-old was pleased to see his team build on their performance against Spain last month, and was over the moon with the final result

Didier Deschamps has voiced his delight with France's 2-1 win over Italy in Wednesday evening's international friendly at the Ennio Tardini in Parma.

Stephan El Shaarawy gifted the Azzurri a 1-0 lead after 35 minutes of play, but goals from Mathieu Valbuena and Bafetimbi Gomis meant that the Bleus eventually came out victorious, much to the satisfaction of Deschamps.

"Last month we drew in Spain, and now we have beaten the European Championship finalists. That is not nothing," the ex-Olympique de Marseille coach stated at a press conference.

"We were very timid in the first 20 minutes, lacking rhythm and aggression. Italy were more mobile and moved better. It took the concession of the goal to start playing the way I wanted us to, to go and win the ball further up the pitch.

"The second half was end-to-end. There were lots of changes. Italy could have equalised but we also had two chances to increase our lead.

"I am really happy with the attitude shown by my players. It was very good for our last match of the year."

France's next match is the international friendly against Germany on February 6, 2013.